Before his suicide in March 2010, Linkous created many albums of beauty and discord and much of Sparklehorse's music has an introspective, melancholy feel, which Linkous credited to a chemical imbalance. His lyrics are full of odd imagery: Joe Tangari describes Linkous' songs as "defiantly surrealist... with all manner of references to smiling babies, organ music, birds, and celestial bodies... In fact, some of the lyrics are so surreal that it's hard to imagine they're even metaphors for anything."
Musically, Sparklehorse were not far removed from alt country, though there are as many differences as similarities between that genre and Sparklehorse: Linkous was fond of incorporating obsolete musical instruments or technologies (such as woozy mellotrons, scratchy, distorted wire recordings of his own voice, or cheap, tinny drum machines), in ways reminiscent of some of Tom Waits' music. As an extension of this style, Sparklehorse was a pioneering voice in dream country. Sparklehorse offered a few full-throttle hard rock numbers, as well, such as "Some Day I Will Treat You Good" or "Happy Man".
Sparklehorse's first album was the confoundingly-titled Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot (1995). The record was a modest success, mainly on college radio. The supporting tour, however, found Linkous overdosing on valium and antidepressants. As a result, Linkous passed out in his London hotel room and remained unconscious with his legs pinned beneath him for almost fourteen hours.
This caused a buildup of potassium which was released when he was moved, causing his heart to stop for two to three minutes. He was hospitalized for weeks afterwards (nearly losing both legs), enduring numerous painful surgeries.
Good Morning Spider (1999) was recorded following this incident, and with mournful songs such as "Painbirds", many critics have mistakenly conjectured that Linkous's near death experience inspired the somber, yet hopeful tone of the album. However, Linkous has stated that much of the material on GMS was written prior to 'the incident'. One song which did result from it is "St. Mary", which is dedicated to the nurses at the hospital of the same name where Linkous recuperated.
2001 saw the release of It's A Wonderful Life and features appearances by Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, Nina Persson and Dave Fridmann, the pre-eminent producer of indie music at the time. Whereas much of "Vivadixie..." and "Spider" were recorded solely by Linkous in his "Static King" studio on his farm in rural Virginia, "Wonderful Life" was more of a formal effort, largely recorded by Fridmann after Linkous was asked by his label to retain an outside producer for the project.
Aside from his own music, Linkous has also become a sought-after record producer, and has helmed works such as Nina Persson's solo record, "A Camp", and Daniel Johnston's "Fear Yourself". Linkous has been one of the most ardent supporters of Johnston, an outsider artist who has had a long battle with mental illness. In 2004, Linkous curated and produced "Discovered Covered: The Late Great Daniel Johnston", a tribute album to the still-living Johnston featuring acts such as Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, Vic Chesnutt, Tom Waits and Bright Eyes. It also includes a collaboration between Sparklehorse and The Flaming Lips on the track "Go".
In 2003, Sparklehorse opened some concerts for R.E.M.
Linkous relocated his "Static King" studio to a remote mountaintop in North Carolina. Several years ago, he purchased a vintage recording console built by the near-mythical Daniel Flickinger. His fourth album has been delayed due to his own health problems as well as the necessity of overhauling the temperamental recording desk. Recently, Linkous has been carrying out promotional work for a new album Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain - collaborating with Danger Mouse and other notables including Christian Fennesz and Steven Drozd, and a release date of 25th September 2006 accompanied by US and UK tours was officially announced. Some of the newly released songs appeared at the time of It's A Wonderful Life as b-sides or demos, but there is a different feel to the album, thanks to stripped down production that has only been hinted at in previous albums. The ten minute long finale, with same title as the album, suggests a contemplative movie soundtrack rather than a song. Linkous has since realised his own ultimate song, remaining only now in music.
On March 6, 2010, Linkous committed suicide with a shotgun blast to his heart in the backyard of a friend's house in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was 47 years old. A retail version of his delayed collaboration with Danger Mouse, "The Dark Night of the Soul", was released in July 2010.
http://www.sparklehorse.com
Return To Me
Sparklehorse Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Our hooves hammering your coils
The rivers carve out your hollows
With tears from me
Return to me
Return to me my love
Oh my love
Unlock her name from your grass
Unburden the pressures of fathoms
Of tears from me
Return to me
Return to me my love
Oh my love
Oh my love
Return to the clouds
Return in the caves
Return over valleys
Oh my love
Oh my love
Oh my love
The lyrics of Sparklehorse's "Return To Me" are beautifully evocative, with imagery that is at once natural and mystical. The song's opening lines, "Arise oh brother mountain / Our hooves hammering your coils," speak to a sense of awe and reverence for the natural world. The use of the word "brother" suggests a sense of kinship or brotherhood between the singer and the mountain, while "hammering your coils" seems to suggest a kind of symbiotic relationship between the two.
The next line, "The rivers carve out your hollows / With tears from me," adds a note of melancholy to the song, as though the singer is mourning the loss of something or someone. This sense of loss is echoed in the chorus, which repeatedly pleads for the return of a love that has been lost. The line "be still oh rusting river / Unlock her name from your grass" brings to mind the idea of forgotten or lost memories, buried deep in the earth or the water.
The final lines of the song add a sense of epic scope, as the singer pleads for his love to return to him not just from the river or the mountains, but from the clouds and the caves and the valleys. There is a sense of longing and desperation in the repetition of the words "Oh my love," as though the singer is reaching out into the world for some kind of answer or comfort.
Line by Line Meaning
Arise oh brother mountain
Rise up, oh brother mountain, as we, with our powerful hooves, pound on your winding paths
Our hooves hammering your coils
We march on your twisting terrain, making loud banging sounds with our hooves
The rivers carve out your hollows
The streams flowing down your sides create curves and crevasses in your form
With tears from me
With my sorrowful tears, falling down as a symbol of my pain and sadness
Return to me
Come back to me, and bring peace and consolation in my life
Return to me my love
Come back to me, my beloved one, and make my life whole again
Be still oh rusting river
Cease your constant trembling, old and rusty river, let go of her name that was once caught in your grasp
Unlock her name from your grass
Release her name that you once stole and grew in your grasses, and let her go free
Unburden the pressures of fathoms
Get rid of the burdens of deep depths that you have held for so long
Return to me
Come back to me, and bring peace and consolation in my life
Return to me my love
Come back to me, my beloved one, and make my life whole again
Return to the clouds
Ascend to the sky again, as the vapors that you once were
Return in the caves
Go back to the underground caverns, where you once used to reside
Return over valleys
Fly over wide and open valleys, as you did before
Oh my love
My dearest beloved, I need you back in my life
Oh my love
My dearest beloved, please come back to me soon
Oh my love
My dearest beloved, I miss you dearly
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MARK LINKOUS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind